The Art of Tapestry

Extensively illustrated, this is the first accessible publication on the history of tapestry in over two decades.

The Art of Tapestry tells the history of tapestry in Britain and Europe from the fifteenth to the twentieth centuries through the National Trust's outstanding tapestry collection, which comprises nearly 650 tapestries in 60 properties.

The book includes individual entries on 50 of the National Trust's most important tapestries and an introduction tracing the history of tapestry production and patronage. This specific history is situated in a European context with sections on tapestry production and design in the Netherlands, France and elsewhere. Tapestry has always been an international medium, bringing together weavers, designers, patrons and raw materials of diverse origins, and the book reflects this by placing English production and patronage firmly within a European context.

While the history of princely collecting in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries has received outstanding treatment in recent exhibitions, the parallel history of tapestries bought and used by the European nobility and gentry has never been explored. The Art of Tapestry, published in association with the National Trust, is the culmination of a four-year research project undertaken by tapestry expert Helen Wyld. Beautifully illustrated throughout with much new photography, the book is an essential point of reference for specialists, while also having considerable appeal to the general reader.